


Where The Steam Rises

by TheNemnems



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Dogs, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, lots and lots of dogs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-07-12 12:41:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15995438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNemnems/pseuds/TheNemnems
Summary: After dying in such a brutal way, I was hoping I would get a break in the afterlife. Unfortunately, my wish was not granted. Instead, I was hurled head first into a world I thought was fake. But, it's a little different than I remember...





	1. I Hope You Had A Nice Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto. If I did I would probably be richer but also have a bad case of carpal tunnel syndrome.

As someone in their mid twenties, I had assumed that I still had over half my life left to live. I was looking forward to starting my own family, growing old, all the normal stuff. Who would have thought that I would never get that opportunity? Not me. So imagine my surprise when on my 26th birthday, walking home after a long day of work, I found myself at the end of my life. What happened, you ask? Was I hit by a speeding truck? Stabbed to death by a mugger? Shot? How did I die? Let me explain.

It was the middle of winter. Midnight. Nothing but the light of the moon to guide me home. I was crossing a bridge, hundreds of feet from the river below. Now, this bridge was old. Really old. So old that the railings, which were made of wood, were very wobbly. Nobody is brave enough to lean against them and god knows why they haven't been replaced yet. Anyways, I was so bust admiring the snowflakes falling from the sky that I didn't notice the ice on the ground until it was too late. I slipped off the bridge, shattering the railings, and found myself falling... falling... falling... WHAM! My back smashed against the frozen river and pain filled my body to the brim. A loud cracking noise sounded through the valley and I was suddenly plunged under the freezing river water. My mouth opened to scream for help but the water gushed in, down my throat and into my lungs. I tried my hardest to flail my limbs, get myself to the surface and out of this damn river, but I couldn't move them. I had broken my back when I collided with the ice, paralyzing me. The edges of my vision started fading to black and I knew this was it. This was the end. 

 _'Happy birthday to me...'_ I let myself get pulled away by the current into the inky black space.

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My second life started in an abrupt manner. One minute I was freezing, drowning to death in a frozen river. The next moment I was very warm, swaddled in soft blankets and laying on what was probably the most comfortable bed I had ever slept on. I stared at the ceiling with a blurry gaze as I tried to make sense of what was happening. _'Did I... survive?'_ Blink. I absentmindedly clenched a fist, then froze. _'Wait. Wait a second.'_ My palm opened and closed. _'But... That's impossible. I was paralyzed.'_ My toes curled. _'I died.'_ My eyes burned as the memories hit me full force. _'I... died. I know I did. So... Why am I not dead?'_ I tried turning on my side but found it extremely difficult. My eyebrows furrowed and I wrestled one of my arms out of the blankets. I went to push myself up but stopped when I caught a glimpse of my hand. 'What the hell?' I wipes my eyes and stared down that the limb. It was... small. No, not just small, it was tiny! As in, baby tiny! Had I been reborn? Had some god out there given me a second chance at life?

While I was laying there contemplating what had possibly happened, I failed to notice the door to the room open, and was startled when a woman spoke. "Tatsuo? You're awake?" A face popped into view. It was, as previously stated, a woman. She had long silver-white hair that suggested she was old, but her face showed that she couldn't be older than 35. Her black eyes shimmered in the light and her small mouth pulled up into a smile. "Good morning. Did you have a nice rest?" She picked me up and cradled me to her chest. 

 _'So... I'm assuming this is my new mom? She's... really pretty.'_ I looked around the room as she walked back out the sliding door. My crib sat in the corner against the far wall, right underneath a window. White curtains covered all the windows in the room, but small streams of sunlight escaped underneath the curtains to make wavy patterns on the floor. The floor was the basic Japanese tatami mats and looked comfy enough to crawl around on. A bunch of dog plushies were scattered around the room. _'Wow, this family must really like dogs.'_ The hallway lead to an open room, which I assumed was the living room. I ignored the furniture in favor of staring at all the dogs lounging around. _'Well I guess it's a good thing I've always been a dog lover... But seriously, why do we own this many dogs?! There's got to be at least seven here!_ ' My new mother set me on the floor and walked through a doorway which I assumed lead to the kitchen. All the dogs stood up and trotted over to sniff me. _'Oh god, I'm drowning in fur!'_ I coughed and spit out fur as noses poked and prodded me, shortly followed by slimy tongues licking my face. _'Ewww!'_ My baby arms tried pushing away the eager beasts, but failed in their task. 'So this is how I die again. How ironic that I would once again drown. _'At least it's not in that damn river...'_

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Life as a baby was boring, although I guess that was a given. This new world is extremely different than my old one. It's kind of like a cross between feudal Japan and the modern world, minus technology. Well, not _that_ advanced, but there were random modern touches here and there, like my stuffed animals. For some reason, clans were still a thing. I was part of a large clan, although I'm not sure what the name is. I haven't heard any names other than first names yet, and my reading is atrocious. Seriously, Japanese just looked like scribbles to me!

In this world I was also blessed with a large, loving family. I had both a mother and a father. My father has short messy black hair and sharp golden eyes. He was apparently an orphan as a child, from outside of the clan, but was raised in the clan from an infant. Besides my parents, I had 3 older siblings.

The first was the youngest boy, Touma, written as **刀 万** which means 'Ten Thousand Swords.' He was 5 years old, with scraggly white hair and inherited father's squinty golden eyes. He was hyper and loved to run around the house with the dogs.

Next was a girl. At 7 years old, Kanna, written as **佳奈** , which strangely enough translated to 'Beautiful Nara,' was just old enough to start developing an attitude. She would sit quietly in the corner of the room with one of the dogs, twirling a piece of shoulder length black hair around her finger, rolling her black eyes when someone asked her to do something, but ultimately getting up to go do whatever task she was assigned. Oh boy, she was going to be a hassle when puberty hit her. Understatement of the century.

Then there was the eldest, Kaito, written as **介人** ,  meaning 'supportive person.' At 10 years old, and the oldest of 4 siblings, he held up to his name very well. He was the one helping mother and father with chores around the house, letting Kanna rant to him about her problems, playing with Kou, and even laying on the floor of my room with me. He had the silvery-white hair of mother along with her round eye shape, but the color of father's eyes. Kaito was, by far, my favorite sibling. Although he spent a lot of time away from the house (for some reason I have yet to discover), every moment he was home he spent lifting everyone's spirits.

Lastly, as the baby of the family, there was me, Tatsuo, written as  **竜夫** , meaning 'Dragon Man.' God knows why they chose that name. Personally, I thought I was cute, kind of like Kakashi from _Naruto_ when he was a kid. I had feathery short white hair and round abysmal-like black eyes, paired with soft looking cheeks and a small mouth. As someone who was a woman in my last life, I'm definitely a little jealous that a baby boy is more attractive than I ever was.  

Speaking of looks, this world had a weird.... glitch, shall I say. I found this out the first time I met my older sister Kanna. 

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After the dogs settled down around me, I struggled to wipe off the copious amounts of dog spit and hair. It was everywhere! I grumbled as I pulled yet another dog hair out of my mouth. From somewhere in the depths of the house I heard a door open. "I'm home!" A young sounding voice yelled.

"Welcome home!" Mother yelled back from the kitchen. Foot steps rung down the hallway and a small hand pried open the door to the living room. All the dogs stood up to go welcome the new person and I tumbled to the floor, having been leaning against the puffy white samoyed. "Haha! Hey everyone!" Barks echoed through the room. "Yes, yes, I'm home. Go on, back up!" A small girl trudged through the hoard of furry animals. She spotted me and blinked. "Tatsuo!" A smile pulled at her lips. "Good morning." Her eyes glanced out the door to our right, which was wide open, showing off all the snow outside. "Or should I say good afternoon. It's already three!" I blinked and stared at her face, not paying attention to what she was saying. All my focus was on her face. 

'What is that?' She pushed her way towards me and sat on the floor. Some of the dogs went back to relaxing, while others were too excited to stay still. One of the dogs tumbled off the porch with a loud yelp. 

"Tatsuo?" Her eyebrows furrowed. I continued staring.

 _'Is that... a tattoo?'_ Covering the entire right side of her face was what looked to be a monochromatic sky. Although I found that to be extremely strange, what had me really freaked out was the fact that it was _moving_. Dark gray clouds slowly inched their way across the bridge of her nose to the other side of her face. _'What the fuck?'_ I was officially freaked out. Moving tattoos weren't a thing! They didn't exist! So... why was hers moving? I was broken out of my inner panic when a german shepherd barked in my ear. I blinked and pointed to her face. She looked down at me in confusion. I pointed at my face. 

"Ah. You mean my soulmark?" She looked annoyed as she covered half her face with a hand. I stared in confusion.

 _'Soulmark? What the hell's a soulmark?'_ Just then, mother walked out of the kitchen, holding tea and some sort of crackers and onigiri on a tray, which she then placed on the living room table. 

"Ara, what are you two up to?" Mother smiled as she sat down on a pillow, petting the dogs by her side. 

"Kaa-san..." The girl said. 

"Kanna, there's no need to hide. Your soulmark is beautiful." 

_'Oh. So her name is Kanna.'_

"But... It's..." Kanna's face scrunched up and she stood up, quickly running out of the room. I stared at the door in confusion. Mother sighed and patted her lap.

"Tatsuo, come here darling." I slowly crawled over to her, scared that I did something wrong. "It's not your fault. She's just had it rough." Mother ran her fingers through my hair. "Soulmarks... They're something that links you and your soulmate together. We all have one." She pulled up her left kimono sleeve and showed me her mark on her wrist. There were two colorful paw prints right above her wrist. I snorted because _of course_ it would be paw prints. I jolted when the paw prints started moving, like a small dog was walking up her arm. They walked out of sight and I stared at her wrist in wonder. She smiled. "You have one too. Right here." She pulled up the sleeve of my right arm and I gasped in surprise. Resting on my arm was the outline of a Japanese dragon. It snaked its way down my arm to rest its head on my hand. Mother giggled at my gobsmacked expression. "Somewhere in the world, someone else has this same mark on the same arm. You were meant to be." The dragon wove it's body around my arm. "Now, there's something you need to know about soulmarks. You see how yours is an outline? And how mine was colorful?" She ran her hand along my mark. "Well, that's because your mark will start to gain color only when you and your soulmate grow closer together." I glanced at her mark, noticing how it was like a water painting, dripping color all over her arm. I looked to my mark, just an outline but still so utterly fierce. I was in love.  

_'Someone just for me....'_


	2. Fitting In With The Clan

As someone who lived in the modern world, it isn't a huge surprise that I've never touched a sword in my short 26 years of life. However, in my new life, at the young age of 3 years old, I was introduced to the katana. That was also the age where I figured out where exactly I was in the universe. You see, it all started when my dear old mother took me out in the yard to start my samurai training.

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I was excited. Today my mother would show me what my siblings spent all their free time on. Whatever it was, everyone in the whole family spent hours and hours every day on it. My feet shuffled around in the snow as I looked up at mother with a grin on my face. 

"Now, Tatsuo, you're three years old now. Old enough to start your training." She began, smiling at my excited form. I nodded my head as fast as I could. "As a member of the Hatake clan, you are required to know how to learn to use a sword." I froze.

' _Wait... Hatake? No way. I must have misheard._ ' One of the dogs trotted up with a small wooden katana in his mouth. _'Well, either this is just a huge coincidence, or I'm really in the Naruto world.'_ I numbly grabbed the handle of the wooden katana. _'I mean, I guess it makes sense... Hatake clan... All these dogs... White hair... Honestly, how did I not put the pieces together sooner? It's so obvious now that I think about it.'_

"Pay attention Tatsuo." I snapped out of my thoughts, pushing them to the back of my brain to think about later. "Don't think of a katana as just a weapon. Treat it as an extension of yourself. Here, hold it in your grasp like this." She corrected my hands. "Feet apart, like this. Hold your shoulders like this." She pushed me around until she was seemingly satisfied. "Loosen up! It wont do you any good to be so tense!" I didn't realize I was tense until I felt my shoulders relax.  "Good, good! Now, raise it up like this." She pulled out a bigger wooden sword out of seemingly nowhere and raised it above her head. I copied her. "And swing down!" Her katana became a blur as she swung down. Using all my arm strength, I also swung down, though my swing wasn't nearly impressive as hers. My frustration must have been showing on my face because I felt her hand tussle my hair. "Not bad for a beginner." I grunted. "You'll get better the more you practice. Even Kaa-chan wasn't all that good with a sword, once upon a time!" I hummed and took another swing. 

 _'Slow. Well, it's to be expected. I'm still technically a toddler. Still.... How annoying.'_   Whoosh..... Whoosh..... _'I'll get better.'_

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Now that I knew I was born into the Hatake clan, everything makes more sense. I took in the scenes of the village as I walked next to my mother. Of course, everything was covered in snow. If I remembered correctly, the Hatake clan was located somewhere in the Land of Iron, where most samurai lived, hence all the snow. Another dead give away was all the dogs running around town like they owned the place. Seriously, they were everywhere. Scampering around the streets, running down alleyways, I even saw a few hopping around the rooftops like they were a ninja, which was strange because I thought the Hatake clan focused more on the samurai arts than ninja arts. 

One of the many dogs on the street sniffed my hand and wagged its tail. I pat its head and grinned. "Cute doggy!" Kaa-chan chuckled and pulled me further down the road. "Bye-bye doggy!" I waved. The dog waved a paw back. Yes, don't forget that most Hatake and Inuzuka dogs could use chakra (Just look at those dogs hopping around the rooftops) and were just like summons. Some of them could even speak the same language as us, like Pakkun.

"Do you know what we're doing today?" I shook my head and Kaa-chan grinned like a fox. "Weeeell.... Since you officially started your clan training, it's about time you got your first puppy!" She cheered. I paused. 

"M-my... own puppy?" I suppose it should have been obvious. All of my siblings have at least 2 dogs, and Kaa-chan and Tou-chan each have at least 5 (Thank god they're not all in the house at the same time), so I shouldn't be so surprised that I would get my own dog. It had just never crossed my mind before. "What breed is it?" My feet resumed their shuffling pace.

"Tatsuo, sweetie, you get to choose the one you want." 

 _'Ehhhh!'_   I tripped over my feet. 

"Really? I can really choose my own puppy?" She ruffled my hair and pulled me inside a large wooden building. We took off our shoes at the entrance and shook off the snow on our jackets.

"Setsuo-saaan? Are you there?" Kaa-chan yelled out into the building. I looked around the room. There was a large wooden secretary desk directly across from us, with a door on either side of the desk. A few brown couches were set up around the room, as well as a couple coffee tables. Basically, it was a plain waiting room. Barking echoed through the halls and it smelled like wet dog. Honestly, the whole compound smells like that though. A clicking noise sounded and suddenly a shiba inu popped its head through one of the door. 

"Asami-san? What are you doing here?" The shiba inu said.

"Ara, Akami-chan!" Kaa-chan exclaimed. "Is Setsuo-san in? My little Tatsuo here is ready to get his very first puppy!" I grinned and waved. The shiba inu, Akami, trotted over and sniffed my hand. 

"Oh my, has it already been three years? Your pup is growing up!" Akami commented. "Anyways, Setsu-wan is in the back with the new batch of pups. You two just trot on over to the playpen and get to know all the young'uns. I'll go grab Setsu-wan!" She scampered back through the door she come from. Kaa-san grabbed my hand and pulled me through the other door. We walked down a hallway, passing a few doors, before stopping at one near the end of the hall. It had some kanji on it, but I couldn't read what it said. 

 _'Seriously, I really need to be literate. Maybe I can get Kaito to teach me the next time I see him. He's been pretty busy lately with clan stuff.'_ Silently promising myself to ask Kaito later, I followed Kaa-chan into the room. It was a large room with big windows on every wall, allowing sunlight to light the room. The floor was some kind of carpet, and chewed-up toys littered the room. There was, of course, puppies everywhere, with a few older dogs scattered around. 

 "Wow... There's so many puppies!" I stepped forward as I took in the room. Tiny heads swiveled in my direction and I found myself knocked to the floor. Pushing my way through the avalanche of furry beasts, I couldn't seem to stop the giggles from escaping my mouth. A golden retriever yipped in joy while a siberian husky licked my cheek. "Kaa-chan! Can we take them all? Pretty please?" 

"Hahaha, I'm sorry Tatsuo, but we can only take one home. Make sure it's one you like! You'll be partners for the rest of your life!" She reminded me that the choice I make will seriously effect a good portion of my life. That slightly sobered me up, so I pushed away the excited puppies and looked at my choices. Immediately, I eliminated any small breeds. My sense of smell, although better than the average person, wasn't as good as your regular Hatake. My assumption is because Tou-san isn't actually a blood-born Hatake. I must have inherited his duller sense of smell. Point is, I don't think I'll be a good tracker, and most small dogs were used as trackers. Some people might say that I should have a tracker to cover my weakness, but for my first dog, I feel like I should focus on finding something that builds on my strengths. I know, the only thing I've started training on is how to properly swing my sword. Lame. But if I keep practicing, I can only get better. With that in thought, I'm assuming I'll probably be focused on either speed or strength. Thinking along those lines.... If I decided to be more speed-based, something like a doberman would be amazing. On the other hand, if I focused on strength, maybe a rottweiler or newfoundland would be best. 

 _'Well, I should probably see what I can actually choose from first.'_ Deciding that would be a good idea, I got up from my spot on the floor. _'Wow... There's a lot of siberian huskies. I guess they're a good choice, being as we're in the Land of Iron. Great snow dogs. Maybe I should keep that in mind.'_ Along with siberian huskies, there were golden retrievers, samoyeds, bernese mountain dogs, a couple great danes, german shephards, and two pitbulls. I was stuck choosing between a samoyed, a bernese mountain dog, a siberian husky, and because it was my favorite dog in my last life, I couldn't keep my eyes from wandering towards the pitbulls. _'Now that I've narrowed my choices down, I should see which one's personality meshes best with mine.'_

I made my way around to each puppy of my chosen breeds. The bernese mountain dogs, while they will eventually grow to be absolutely monstrous in size, are notoriously known for being very lazy. While I would usually love that, as someone who will most likely be a front-line fighter, it would be a pain dealing with a lazy dog. _'Maybe next time.'_ Next was the siberian huskies. From what I gathered, most siberian huskies are actually very timid and tend to not be aggressive when the time calls. Well, at least, that's what I heard in my last life. _'Hopefully I just heard bad info.'_ Testing this, I walked up to a group, and sure enough, all but 2 ran away with their tail between their legs. The remaining 2, although they didn't run away, still looked pretty spooked. _'Maybe not a dog for beginners.'_ Up next was the samoyed puppies. Because we owned one, I had an idea about how samoyed dogs typically acted. Friendly, sociable, alert, good traits for a dog. Also one that I wouldn't mind fighting alongside on the front lines. The group of fluffy clouds ran around my feet and jumped on my legs in an excited manner. They would also grow to be rather large. Not as big as the burmese mountain dog, but still large enough to be quite intimidating. I would be sure to keep them in mind. _'So that leaves those two.'_ The pitbull puppies tussled in the corner with a couple golden retrievers. I sat down by the pretzel of dogs and watched them play fight. There was a boy and a girl. The boy was darker in color. Black, brown, and light brown swirled together to make a pretty looking coat. His face was mostly black. The girl was more of a gray color, with a white chest, muzzle, and paws. The boy took on three opponents, while the girl had one. Taking a closer look, I noticed that they were both rather large for regular pitbull puppies. _'Perhaps a mix?'_

"You like those ones?" A voice said behind me. I whirled around to see a traditional Hatake man standing behind me. He looked to be in his late 30's and had a long scar going from the middle of his forehead to the top of his left cheekbone.  

"Eh?" Blink blink. He pointed to the two dogs I had been eyeing. "O-oh. Yeah...." I slowly nodded. "Are they a mix? I noticed that their um... paws and heads were bigger than a regular pitbull puppy..." I trailed off. A grin slipped onto his face and he nodded.

"Yeah, that's right. Smart one, arntcha?" He pulled the two pups out of the pile and held them up by their scruffs. "They're a pitbull mastiff mix. Pretty fierce dogs, they are. Got a tonn'a raw power, but aren't much popular here with alla this snow. Y'see how they got short hair?" He shoved them in my lap and they squirmed around. This close, I could see that they were even bigger than I first though. The boy, which was a little bigger than the girl, was almost as tall as me when I was sitting! I could clearly feel the muscles underneath his skin and I knew he would be an absolute powerhouse when he grew up. "Not that great for a place that's always snowing!" The guy (Setsuo, I faintly recalled) ignored my inner thoughts and crouched down next to me. "This fellow," He pointed to the male. "He'd be a good front-line fighter. Males are usually heavier than females, and they tend to hit harder too." I hummed in agreement as I scratched behind the male puppy's ear. "This girl wouldn't do that well fighting. She's better for tracking. Got one heckuva nose!" He pat her head and grinned. I nodded and looked down at the puppies in my lap.

"Umm... I think I know which one I want." I stated. Kaa-chan walked over and leaned against Setsuo-san's back.

"Which one? Is it a samoyed? I know you like my Masumi-chan back at home." She was referring to her own samoyed, Masumi. Masumi, out of all the dogs, was the one I spent the most time with. I shook my head.

"No. As much as I like Masumi..." I trialed off. "No. I want this one." Lifting up the male pitbull mix, I let a grin slip onto my face. 

"Hmmm.... The pitbull? Are you sure? I know he's cute and all, but he's got short hair. That could be a concern in the snow." Kaa-chan slid an analytical eye over my choice of a partner. I nodded. 

"I'm sure! I can make sweaters for him, and I'm sure I can find booties for his paws!" She looked doubtful, but nodded anyways.

"Well.... If that's the puppy you want, we can get him." I held him to my chest and smiled.

"Thank you Kaa-chan!" I bowed my head and stood up while holding the pitbull to my chest. Setsuo-san grabbed the female and plopped her with another group of wiggling beasts. 

"You got a name for your pup?" Setsuo-san asked as we walked out of the room. I paused. What was a good name for him? 

 _'Hmm... Ryuu? Hah! Dragon man and his dragon. Wouldn't that be funny...'_ I thought of the Hatake clan, a clan of samurai. Samurai who can use chakra, almost like.... shinobi... I tilted my head. _'Shinobi, huh?'_ Looking down, I studied the pup in my arms. He looked around the hallway with sharp eyes, as though looking for danger.

"...Shinobu..." Endurance.


	3. Bad Experiences

The memories of training with Kaa-chan were perhaps some of my fondest. If I were to look back and wonder where my life suddenly took a turn for the worse though, I would probably point to the time I tried to unlock my chakra with Tou-san. You see, as previously mentioned, Tou-san was an orphan. Found as a baby near the borders between Kumo and the Land of Iron and raised as one of our own. Because he was an orphan, nobody knew what clan he was from. Not even he knew. He looked fairly normal, had normal chakra, and lived a fairly normal life. His children were quite healthy as well, so it was assumed that he was from an average clan with no special features. This was proven wrong, however, when Tou-san tried teaching me to control my chakra.

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Snow fell from the sky, slowly covering our heads and everything else in all its cold glory. Father sat across from me with his legs criss-cross, a small smile on his face.

"You've been progressing well with your katana training. I'm proud of you Tatsuo." I grinned up at him as I thought back to all the hours I spent training, all the nights spent with sore muscles. I knew there would be many more nights like that in my future, but for my current age, it all seemed like a big achievement.

"Thank you, Tou-san!" One of the dogs, Masumi (the samoyed), wandered over and laid down beside me. Shinobu soon followed, snuggling up in Masumi's side.

"I'm sure you've heard about chakra." I thought back to the conversations I'd over heard between my siblings and nodded. The Hatake clan is known for their white chakra, most commonly used to coat their swords with it in fights. I remember hearing Kaito mention that Touma was somewhat of a prodigy in this area. Anyways, it was my turn to learn to use chakra and I was ecstatic. "Chakra originates from your core. Today I want you to find your core. Get a feel for your chakra. Are you ready?" I bobbed my head and grinned. He smiled and ruffled my hair. "Good. Close your eyes." My eyes slid shut. "Focus inside yourself. Your core should be in the center of your chest." 

 _'My core. Where all my chakra is made. From my core it cycles through my various tenketsu points, to the edges of my body, then back to my core. Kind of like blood circulating from my limbs to my heart.'_ I pulled all my focus to the center of my chest. 'In most of the fanfictions I read, chakra was describes as cool and fluid, like water running through their veins.' After a while, I noticed something. It was like a small orb floating in my torso, between my lungs. It wasn't cool or fluid like they said. Instead, it was more... warm and erratic. _'Well, I guess you can't trust someone with no chakra to explain how chakra feels.'_  

"I... Think I found it. Right here?" I tapped my sternum. 

"That's right. You're doing good. Now try to pull some chakra out of your core. Just a little." I nodded. 

 _'Now, how do I do that? I can't physically pull my chakra. Maybe Buddhism deserves more credit than I thought.'_ I tried everything I could think of, and after 10 minutes I was ready to give up. Just when I was going to admit defeat, a small stream of chakra sluggishly drifted from the core. I smiled in triumph and opened my eyes.

"Tou-san! I did i-" Suddenly steam spewed from my mouth. I panicked as I felt my body temperature rise. My throat was scalded from the steam still spilling out of my mouth and I could feel my insides being cooked from my boiling blood. 

"T-Tatsuo?!" A voice screamed. It sounded like Tou-san, but I couldn't see anything with my eyes clenched in agony. The voice hissed in pain, and I heard barking surrounding me. Pain took overloaded my senses and I quickly lost consciousness.

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Waking up in the hospital is disconcerting. What's even worse is waking up in a hospital, feeling like you just took a lengthy dip in an active volcano. My blurry sight caught what looked like white blurs dashing around me, and I think I heard warbled screams. I wasn't sure though. Before I could think too hard about my surroundings, I found myself back in my dreams.

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It took somewhere around a month for my body to adjust to my strange chakra. That month was one of the most painful experiences I've ever lived through. Every moment was spent in pure agony I was basically being boiled alive from the inside. The only thing keeping me alive was the medics constantly healing my charred innards and burning skin. I was under careful watch 24/7. This was also the time where I discovered my sister Kanna wasn't actually working on her swordsmanship, but was instead on an internship at the hospital. During one of her visits, she told me that she had no interest fighting on the front line. She would rather heal our fighters, as most Hatake's didn't want to be a medic. Kanna reluctantly admitted that my strange condition made her realize that she hadn't been taking her internship very seriously.

"I now realize that I've been treating my job like a game. That is... Unacceptable! It's time I grow up!" She had stated while sending a wave of cool chakra into my system. Another more experienced doctor stood on my other side, silently healing my intestines or some other organ. "I think I want to start studying chakra too. Wouldn't that be cool? Your Nee-san would be the nation's first chakra expert! I could fix damaged coils, and..." She chattered about all the different chakra diseases and how she could fix them. I let her talk about whatever she wanted because we almost never spoke. If our sibling bonding time was her healing me while I was in critical condition, then that's how it would be. I hummed quietly, though from the dryness of my throat and damaged vocal cords, I wasn't sure she heard me. Also because she was so immersed in her own thoughts of becoming the very first chakra doctor or something. 

"Kanna-chan. That's a wonderful dream, but now is not the time. Focus on the patient." The doctor snapped Kanna out of her daydreams.

"H-Hai Sensei! I apologize!" She focused back on her task.

.

.

.

On the fourth week, I noticed that my body was beginning to adjust to my volatile chakra. The doctors did an in-depth diagnostics scan through my whole body and discovered that my body was somehow adapting. My organs, muscles, skin, everything was becoming heat resistant. I'm not exactly sure how, but I'm sure it had something to do with my chakra. Maybe all that exposure and healing triggered something in my DNA? Well, whatever it was, I was just glad I wasn't in constant pain anymore. 6 weeks after being admitted to the hospital, I was hesitantly released. The doctors wanted to keep me longer so they could study my chakra, but Kaa-chan fought to bring me home. The hospital finally agreed, but I was told I would have to wear a metal half-mask for the rest of my life because of the constant stream of scalding hot steam spewing out of my mouth. My skin had become immune to it, but if it were to touch someone else, they could get pretty nasty 3rd or even 4th degree burns.  It was also noted that my body temperature had been permanently raised. Basically, I was now a walking heater, which wasn't that bad when you remembered I lived in the Land of Iron, where it's always snowing, in case you somehow forgot.

Anyways, I was just glad to be out of that stuffy hospital room. The whole family picked me up from the hospital (Even Shinobu. I think he was the most excited one) and we went to a barbeque restaurant to celebrate my release. As we walked, I noticed that any snow around me melted immediately upon contact. Even the snow beneath my feet, with a good layer of rubber between the soles of my feet and the actual snow, sizzled away. I trailed after my family and sighed.   _ **TSSSSS**_

I jumped. _'What was that?'_ I looked around and noticed steam floating around my head, slowly drifting away into the air. _'Was that... from me?'_ I put a hand to my mask, feeling the ventilation holes. _'I probably shouldn't do that around others. Don't want to burn someone.'_ Shinobu looked startled and let out a little yip, tripping over his boots.

"Tatsuo?" Kaito looked back and called me. "Let's go. You don't want to miss out on barbeque!" He held out a hand. Blinking, I stared at his open palm for a moment. I shook my head and took his hand. I smiled up at him before remembering he couldn't see my mouth.

"Yeah, s-" _**TSSSS**_

Steam shot out of my mask and I immediately shut my mouth. 

 _'Can I.... not even talk anymore?'_ We stared at each other with wide eyes. Shakily, I nodded my head and walked ahead, towards our group. We walked silently as the 4 others chattered amongst themselves. Shinobu trotted quietly by my side, shooting me worried looks. Entering the restaurant, we all followed Kaa-chan to a large table next to a small open window. Kaa-chan, Tou-san, and I sat on one side (with me next to the window). Kaito, Kanna, and Touma sat on the other side. Shinobu slid under the table and sat at my feet, resting his head on my knee. I slowly pet his head. A waitress came over and took our orders. She ran off and everyone's head swiveled to look at me. 

"So Tatsu-chan, I bet you're so happy to be out of that hospital room!" Kaa-chan grinned down at me and hugged my body against her side. I nodded as best I could while trapped underneath her arm. "We were all so worried! Kanna-chan updated us on your condition every day. Your nee-chan worked so hard for you!" On the other side of the table, Kanna preened.

"Of course! I'd do anything for my otouto!" Kanna crossed her arms over her chest and nodded decisively. Grins spread around the table and everyone giggled. The waitress wobbled up to our table with a smile and plates upon plates of meat.

"Sorry for the wait! Here you go!" We each got two plates of meat, one piled high with beef, chicken, and whatever else we ordered. The other was empty, which we would use to place our cooked food on. Kanna, being the 'doctor' of the group, got a good balance of meat and veggies. The sounds of sizzling and smell of cooked beef filled the air. Growling stomachs echoed across the table and we all had a hearty laugh. When it was time to eat, I paused. 

 _'Should I.... Take off my mask? The steam could be an issue.'_ I stared at the smoke rising from the grill. _'Well, I'll try it. I can just face the window. Thank god it's open.'_ Angling my face towards the open window, I took off my metal mask. Steam billowed out of it's confinement and slowly drifted out the window. Conversations at the table were paused as eyes turned in my direction. I ignored the stared in favor of the steak I was chewing on. Steam drifted out of my nose as I chewed. 

"....T-Tatsuo...." 

"Hmm?" My eyes drifted over to Tou-san. He looked heartbroken. My head tilted to the side. "Yes?" White burst from my mouth and I waved it away before it could burn Kaa-chan. I wondered if I didn't get it all when her face contorted to a look of pain. "Kaa-chan?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Oh... my poor son..." She covered her mouth and hugged me to her chest. I held my breathe in hopes that I wouldn't burn her. I gave her a few seconds before pushing her away and turning towards the window. 

"...I'm okay Kaa-chan." Shinobu whined, so I gave him a piece of steak. Absentmindedly, I ran my hands through his fur. "Don't worry." Silence rang across the table and suddenly I wished I was anywhere but here. My eyes wandered towards the dragon on my arm. My hand slipped from Shinobu's head to delicately run a finger across the tattoo's body. It's head turned to look in my direction and I sighed. 

 _'I guess Tatsuo is a more perfect name for me than I first thought. With the dragon on my arm and the steam billowing out of my mouth and nose, I guess "Dragon Man" is actually pretty dead-on.'_ The beast on my arm wriggled around as if it could hear my thoughts. I stood up in my seat.

"Shinobu." I placed my mask back on my face and hopped out the window. Shinobu hopped out and followed me down the street. 

_'There's no better way to get rid of anger than training. I suppose we can work on speed today.'_

**_TSSSS_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so I'll be changing a lot of stuff. Ages, events, maybe even the layout of the elemental nation. Basically, canon just doesn't exist anymore.   
> Anyways, I hope you're enjoying my story so far! If you spot any mistakes, please let me know!


	4. The Reason Why

Speed training and strength training were both pretty difficult without proper guidance. Since my release from the hospital, it felt as if there was an invisible wall separating me from my family. Kanna was always out working at the hospital and Touma was busy improving his swordsmanship. Kaito was out doing whatever he usually does. Tou-san was always out on border patrol for weeks at a time. Kaa-chan... She couldn't look at me for more than a second without getting teary-eyed. She avoided me, like she didn't know how to approach me. It hurt. It honestly hurt.

 _'I'm not a stranger. I'm family! Part of the pack!' **TSSSS**_ I angrily punched the training dummy in front of me and winced when my hand started throbbing. I decided I would let my hands have time to heal and instead began my improvised speed training. Sprinting from one side of the yard to the other. _'Not the best, I'm sure. But I don't know know what else to do! I wish Kaa-san or Tou-san would help me...'_ Shinobu jumped off the porch he had been watching me from and ran alongside me. Masumi watched from a few feet away under a tree, making sure I didn't injure myself too badly. I sprinted for as long as I could, which was a very unimpressive 10 minutes, before collapsing onto the melting snow beneath me. I let myself rest for half an hour before repeating my training regime on and off until dinner. Kaa-chan hesitantly called me in to eat with the family.

.

.

.

I was surprised to see Tou-san sitting on his designated seat. _'Guess he got back from border patrol.'_ I sat on my seat and stared down at my hands, absentmindedly rubbing my soulmark. Everyone soon took their seats and everyone began chatting while enjoying their meal, besides me and for some reason Tou-san. I was about to get up but was stopped.

"Tatsuo... Please sit down." Tou-san quietly said. The small conversations cut off and everyone turned their attentions my way.

 _'Uhhhh....'_ I slowly lowered myself back to my seat. Kaa-chan and the others quickly finished their own dinners and left to their rooms, except Kaa-chan, who took all the dishes and disappeared into the kitchen. _'Soooo.... this is awkward.'_ My hand brushed against my dragon. 

"Tatsuo." Tou-san sat across from me. I shrunk under his gaze, wishing I could grab my mask from the table top so I could hide even a small part of myself from his piercing gaze. "....I'm sorry." He apologized. I blinked and dragged my eyes up to his form.

_'He looks so... tired. Defeated. That's... my fault, isn't it?'_

"You know... I'm not actually a Hatake." He began. I nodded. "After..." He took a deep breath. "After the accident, I started looking around. Trying to find out what went wrong. I thought that maybe there was something wrong with your coils but the doctors said there was nothing wrong with them. That meant it HAD to be your chakra. The Hatake clan had never had this issue, which meant... You had to have got it from me." All my attention was focused on him. "I tried researching, but there isn't a lot written about chakra illnesses or defects. But then... I remembered... My adopted parents said I was found as a baby by the borders of Kiri. So I started researching clans in and around there. I thought maybe I would find the answer... Kiri... has a lot of clans, y'know?"

_'Oh yeah... The whole Yagura thing hasn't happened yet. The First Mizukage, Byakuren, is still alive.'_

"Many of those clans have what's called a kekkai genkai. You know what that is, right? It's uh... an anomaly of the DNA that allows the wielder to use unique techniques. Only passed down through clans, like the Hatake's white chakra. A-anyways, so I was researching all the clans with a kekkai genkai and... I think I found the clan I'm from. It's... It's called the Terumī clan."

 _'Terumī? Like... Mei Terumī, the Fifth Mizukage? I'm related to the Fifth Mizukage?!'_ I was flabbergasted.

"They have this kekkai genkai called Boil Release. It's a combination of fire-type and water-type chakra. Most kekkai genkai are pretty similar for the same users, but Boil Release is different for every user. Some can use corrosive vapour to dissolve everything, enemies and allies alike. They noted that the only thing not effected by the vapour is the user. I think... I think your chakra acted like that because we didn't unlock it the proper Terumī way. I don't know how they do it. Only clan members know how.  Of course, since I didn't grow up there.... Anyways, I think because we did it wrong, your chakra is constantly producing steam, which is why steam is always pouring out of your mouth and nose. I think that because it's such a small amount of chakra, your steam only burns whatever it touches instead of melting it." He sighed. "I might have not known about any of this when... the accident happened, but it's still my fault. My responsibility." I shook my head and he held up a hand to stop my silent protests. "It is. Now, I saw you training earlier today. You looked like you need some kind of mentor." I looked up at him with hopeful wide eyes. "I'll take over your training. I want to fix my mistakes. You'd like that, wouldn't you?" He let a small smile slip onto his face. A grin threatened to split my face and we both ignored the steam floating around my head.

.

.

.

"Come on Tatsuo! Keep running!" I gasped for air and pushed my legs to keep carrying me. 

 _'Thank god I'm not wearing my mask! I think I would have fainted from lack of air by now!'_ Shinobu ran circles around me in a teasing manner. I glared up at him. Since we bought him a few months ago, he went through a major growth spurt. When we brought him home he went up to just above my knee. Now, 6 months later, he was almost to my hips. He wasn't even done growing yet either! I'm fully convinced that when he does eventually stop growing, he'll be at least as big as a bear. 

"We're going to be out here till next week if you keep up that pace!" Tou-san interrupted my inner musings. I groaned and pushed Shinobu out of the way.

"Shinobu, let's go." My burning legs and lungs begged me to stop but that only pushed me harder.

.

.

.

"I noticed you haven't made a contract with Shinobu yet. Hasn't your Kaa-chan taught you how to do that yet?" Tou-san asked after one of our spars. I was sprawled out in the snow at his feet, desperately trying to catch my breath. It seems that was all I was doing now-a-days.

"Contract?" I looked at his feet with a raised eyebrow.

"That's a no then... Does Shinobu know how to channel chakra yet?" I hummed.

"I think so. Masumi and a few other pack members have been training him." The snow around me melted away and I reluctantly pushed myself up.

"Call him over." Tou-san sat next to me on the now snowless spot on the ground. I whistled loudly and we waited in silence. A couple seconds later the pitbull mix darted out from the trees and tumbled to a stop in front of us. "Where do you want your marks to be?" I blinked.

"Marks?" Tou-san face-palmed and pulled up his right sleeve. I was surprised to see paw prints of various sizes splayed all over his arm.

"These are summon marks. If you touch one of them with a chakra-coated finger, you can summon the dog that owns that print." He touched a finger to one of the paws on his bicep. I jumped when a husky poofed into existence in front of us. "Your Kaa-chan's marks are on her left leg."

_'Wait... But... I thought you had to sign a scroll to summon an animal? Am I wrong? But I clearly remember Naruto summoning a scroll so he could make a contract with the toads...'_

"So? Where do you want your marks?" My left hand automatically gravitated to the dragon curled around my elbow.

"Ummm.... I suppose my left arm would make the most sense." I pulled up the sleeve of my yukata top to expose my blank arm. Tou-san grinned and tousled my hair.

"I'm glad you agree. Shinobu," He caught the puppy's attention. "Can you channel chakra to one of your front paws? Not a lot." Shinobu obediently did as asked and I silently pouted at the fact that my dog had better chakra control than me. I was still having a hard time keeping 3 leaves stuck to each arm. Tou-san grabbed Shinobu's wrist and pressed his paw to the top of my left wrist. I stared down in wonder as I felt a tingling sensation radiate from the point of contact. We sat like that for almost a minute before Shinobu's paw was pulled away. In place of where he had been touching, there was now a black paw print the same size as his paw. I rubbed it in wonder.

"...Wow..." 

"There you go! Your very first summoning contract! Now Shinobu can officially go to the summoning world whenever he wants. All the dogs with summoning contracts can go to their village in the summoning world." I hummed and nodded. We grinned at each other. Shinobu barked and hopped around with the husky. We all laughed.

If only that happiness would have lasted forever.

.

.

.

It happened a few weeks after my 5th birthday.

The first sign that something was wrong was the smoke rising from the other side of the village. The second sign was the explosions that rocked the ground beneath us. Us 4 siblings were herded together with the 5 dogs Kaa-chan and Tou-san summoned to protect us. 

"Stay here. Don't go outside. Don't let anybody inside. Kaito," Kaa-chan turned to Kaito with a serious look. "Protect your siblings." Kaito nodded with a scared expression plastered across his face. "Masumi, if something happens to either of us, I want you to take them to Konoha. Hashirama-sama will take care of them." Masumi nodded.

"Of course. We'll protect the pups with our lives." Masumi stood over us in a protective manner. Our parents nodded and disappeared. We all huddled together in a shivering mass. I had my head turned to the side, desperately trying to control my breathing so I wouldn't burn my siblings.

 _'God, what the fuck is happening? Why is the village under attack?!'_ We sat there for what felt like hours before Masumi let out a shuddering breath. She turned to us.

"We need to go. Get up." The other dogs pushed us to our feet. "Follow my lead. Stay quiet." She pushed the front door open with her paw and slowly nudged it open. After looking around the empty street she slipped out the door. We followed on shaky legs. 

Our escape of the village was filled with tension. Kanna was desperately trying to stifle her sobs with a hand as we ran into the forest. She collapsed after a half hour of running, not used to that amount of exercise. Masumi stopped and pulled her onto the burmese mountain dog protecting us. He easily adjusted to her weight and quietly told her to wrap herself around him. We resumed our sprint through the trees at a slightly faster pace now that Kanna wasn't holding us back. 

After 4 hours we stopped to rest in an empty cave. Nobody said a word, too lost in their own thoughts. My siblings were shivering from lost body heat and I felt bad for them. Because of my Boil Release, I didn't get cold anymore. I was the only person in the village to walk around in light clothing and not freeze to death. 

 _'Well, WAS. Who knows how many people survived the attack. I bet it's still happening right now. And here I am, uselessly sitting in a cave.'_ I watched Touma wiggle closer to Kaito to steal more body heat. _'Maybe...' **TSSS**_ I sighed deeply to let steam escape my mask. It shot out of the ventilation holes before languidly floating around my head. It slowly drifted towards the entrance, losing its heat as it went. Kanna flinched when it brushed her cheek. Her eyes shut tight in anticipation of pain. We all held our breaths and waited for her screams of anguish, but were surprised when she instead leaned into the steam. I smirked when I realized my speculations were true. I had figured that if I sat a few feet away from everyone else, by the time it drifted to everyone else, the surrounding air would have sapped out some of the scalding heat. Now that Kanna confirmed my thoughts, I didn't hesitate to take off my mask and breathe normally. Everyone slowly relaxed now that they weren't freezing to death. 

Masumi let us sleep for a couple hours before insisting we had to start moving again.

.

.

.

After 2 weeks of travel, our group of 4 children and 5 dogs stood outside the looming gates of Konohagakure no Sato, The Village Hidden in the Leaves. It was the most glorious thing we had seen in a long time.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I ended up changing the entirety of how summoning works too. My bad ;P  
> Also, here's what Tatsuo looks like. I commissioned fokkusuart on Fiverr to draw him. Honestly, she made him look even cuter than I envisioned him. Please go check her out if you want to have someone draw your oc for cheap. I mean like $10 cheap. Awesome! (Also does anyone know how to make pictures appear on the mobile version? I can't seem to figure it out)  
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Any questions? I might be able to answer them!


	5. A New Home?

We were quickly stopped by 3 men guarding the entrance to Konoha.

"Halt! State your business!" One of them who looked suspiciously like an Uchiha stood in front of our group. Masumi stepped forward.

"We are from the Hatake clan. Our village was attacked two weeks ago. We escaped and ran here in hopes that the treaty between our villages still held true. Please, we need to speak to the Hokage!" The three men's faces twisted at the mention of the attack. They shared glances with each other. One with unidentifiable clan traits nodded at the other two and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. We stood in uncomfortable silence for a couple minutes, sneaking glances at the village streets beyond the guards.

 _'I can't believe I'm actually in Konoha! I would be more excited if it weren't for the fact that the only reason I'm here is because most of my village was ruthlessly slaughtered. I hope Kaa-chan and Tou-san are okay...'_ Our wait was cut short with the arrival of the 3rd guy reappearing. 

"Follow." He turned and walked through the gates. Masumi trotted after the man and we followed behind her. I looked down at my feet as we entered the gate.

 _'My first steps in Konoha.'_ I inwardly snorted. _'How symbolic.'_ We followed the man to what was obviously the Hokage tower. _'To think I will actually meet Hashirama. THE Hashirama.'_ We began our trek up the stairs when I suddenly had a thought. _'Wait. Hashirama? Didn't he die a couple years after the founding of Konoha?'_ I tripped on a stair but thankfully caught myself before I could face-plant. _'Well... The timeline was always a little wonky. If I remember correctly, in the anime he married Mito after starting the village, had three sons and somehow lived long enough to see Tsunade as a child. But if he died only a few years after the founding...'_ I stopped thinking before I could get a headache. Thinking about that always hurt my head. When we finally made it to the top of the staircase the man knocked on a wooden door.

"Hashirama-sama, I've brought the Hatake group." 

"Enter." The guide opened the door and motioned us inside. Masumi led us inside. My heart beat loudly in my chest when I saw The God of Shinobi sitting behind the desk in front of me. His hat was off and his mouth was pulled up in a soft smile. His brother Tobirama stood to his right with his arms crossed. 

 _'Oh god, Tobirama too?! I am not ready for this!'_ My left hand naturally found its way to the dragon on my bicep. I nervously ran my fingers across the black ink.

"Hokage-sama." Masumi bowed to Hashirama. We all followed her example and bowed. "We are from the Hatake clan located in The Land of Iron. Two weeks ago our village was attacked by unknown assailants. We were able to escape in the confusion and immediately headed here. Please..." She took a deep breath. "Please accept these pups into your village. They have nowhere left to go." We looked up when Hashirama stood from his chair. He strode around the desk to stand in front of our group. We all held our breath when he knelt in front of Masumi and lifted her head.

"Of course, we'll never turn away any Hatake that ask for our help. Tobirama," The white haired man grunted. "Gather a group. I'm sending you to the Hatake's village. Please assist any Hatake you find." Tobirama nodded and disappeared.

 _'Makes sense. Tobirama was known for his speed and prowess. I wouldn't want to cross him on the battlefield.'_ I shuddered at the thought. Us siblings all jumped back when a man appeared where Tobirama once stood. The man knelt on the floor.

"Hokage-sama, your orders?" 

"Sanji-san, please find lodgings for our friends." Hashirama stood and smiled at the man.

"Of course, Hokage-sama." Sanji shunshin'd away. Kanna shuffled her feet. 

"A-ano... Hokage-sama..." She peeked up at him through her bangs. The brown haired man looked down on her with a soft look in his eyes. Kanna played with the hem of her shirt. "Do you... Do you think our parents are okay?" Hashirama took a deep breath and knelt before her. He encased her small hands in his.

"I can't promise they are, but... If they're still alive I know they'll find a way to come back to your side." He brushed the hair out of her face and minutely flinched when he saw her soulmark. Honestly, he hid his reaction so well I started to doubt he even flinched in the first place. Kanna looked to her feet.

"I see.... Um, actually... I was wondering if you needed an extra pair of hands at the hospital?" She dragged her eyes up to meet his. "I had an internship at the hospital in our village, so I'm able to help." Hashirama opened his mouth to respond but Kanna cut him off. "Please! I don't want to sit around and feel useless! I can help!" She bowed at the waist. The man blinked and grinned.

"Well, I supposed the hospital could always use more hands." He stood and strode back over to his desk, wrote something on a piece of paper, then gave the paper to the ravenette. "Give this to the lady at the front desk." Kanna reverently held the paper to her chest and bowed deeply before she turned in place and practically flew out the door. One of the dogs chased after her.

 _'Does she even know where the hospital is?'_ I turned back to the man in front of us, deciding that my sister could take care of her own problems. The Hokage turned his gaze to the 3 remaining siblings. Kaito bravely stepped forward to stand just behind Masumi.

"Hokage-sama, thank you so much for taking us in. We will all work hard to repay your kindness." He bowed, urging Touma and I to follow his example.

"Thank you Hokage-sama." Touma said as he bowed. I remained silent and followed their lead.

"Oh no! There's no need for any of that! Please raise your heads!" The Shodaime panicked and put a hand on Kaito's shoulder. We all reluctantly straightened. 

"At the very least, let us fight for you!" Kaito pleaded. "I am Hatake Kaito, fourteen years of age, proficient in tracking and hunting." I almost snorted when I realized we were only now doing introductions. "The girl who ran out is my younger sister Hatake Kanna. She's eleven years old and, as you know, is learning iryo-ninjutsu and studying the chakra pathways." He pointed to Touma "This is Hatake Touma, my younger brother. He's nine years old and is extremely talented with his swordsmanship skills." He then pointed to me. "And this is my youngest brother, Hatake Tatsuo. He's five years old and learning to use a sword. I believe Tou-san was teaching him to control his chakra, but with his condition... I'm not sure if that's possible. We all have at least one summon dog with the same specialties we have." I rolled my eyes.

 _'I can use my chakra just fine!'_  

"What do you mean 'his condition?'" Hashirama asked as he turned his gaze to me. I nervously stared at a spot over his shoulder. 

"A-ah... Well, about two years ago, Tou-san tried to help Tatsuo access his chakra. It was going fine until suddenly steam just... erupted from his mouth. He fainted and Tou-san rushed him to the hospital. I don't know all the details, but he was kept in the High-Risk ward for six weeks before they let him go. Apparently his body is constantly creating steam and nobody has any idea how to stop it. Tatsuo is now completely immune to the steam, but anyone else who touches it will get a pretty bad burn." Kaito gestured towards me. "That's why he wears that mask, so nobody gets burned. Although, if he breathes too harshly steam will get pushed out of the ventilation holes." The brown-haired man rested his hand on my shoulder as he studied me. I nervously shuffled out of his grasp and turned my head away from the others. 

 _'Please stop staring at me.' **TSSS**_ The Shodaime eyed the steam flowing from my mask. I nervously bowed in apology. _'Kami, I wish I could talk right now.'_

"Hey now, lift your head! There's no need to apologize! Can you talk?" He crouched down in front of me.

 _'Oh Kami, now it's my turn? Please stop that! It's getting old!'_ I straightened up and shook my head. His brow furrowed. 

"Ah... Then, can you write?" Again, I shook my head. Kaito and Tou-san had taught me some kanji, but because Japanese isn't my first language, I struggled to remember most of the teachings. "Hmm... That's troubling." He looked deep in thought. For a while, we sat in silence as he contemplated this problem. I felt bad for wasting everyone's time on my problem. "Aha! I've got it!" He grinned at us. "Hand signs!" We all blinked.

_'Hand signs? Does he mean... Sign language? That's... actually a really good idea.'_

"We have basic hand signs for when we need to be quiet on missions. I can have someone teach you that!" 

 _'That's great and all... But I can't live my whole life using only mission signs.'_ Making up my mind to tell him this, I took a few more steps away from the group and hesitantly removed my mask.

"A-ano..." My voice was hoarse from disuse. Steam spewed from my mouth. I awkwardly walked over to a window and opened it so the lingering steam wouldn't burn anyone. "While I appreciate the thought, I feel like I'll need..." I took a second to swallow. "More than mission signs. I probably need to..." I don't remember talking being this hard. "Create a whole new language." Hashirama looked surprised.

"So you _can_ speak!" I grimaced.

"Yes, but as you see... It is dangerous..." I motioned the the dangerous mist drifting out the window.

"That's true." He crossed an arm over his chest and held his chin with his other hand. "A whole new language, huh?" He hummed. "That's actually not a bad idea. I'll see what I can do." He nodded his head while grinning.

 _'I think I see why he's well liked.'_ I put my mask back on and bowed. Just then the man he sent to find us a house shunshin'd into the room.

"Hokage-sama, I've found and made the proper arrangements for the Hatake group." He gave Hashirama a scroll. The brunette opened the scroll to read the contents.

"Fantastic! Please escort them to their lodgings. And give the girl at the hospital the address, would you?" He sat back in his seat. "Tatsuo-kun, I'll be sure to make the arrangements for a proper teacher." I nodded and bowed. "Ah, I meant to ask you all... Well, it actually pertains to Tatsuo-kun and Touma-kun." We both tilted our heads in question. "You're both still young enough, so I would like to offer you both places in the academy." 

_'Ahhh, I was hoping that didn't exist yet. Dammit!'_

"Of course, Hokage-sama! I would be honored!" Touma grinned and bowed. I sighed and bowed. TSSS

_'I guess I have no choice but to join if I want to be a shinobi.'_

"Great! I'll send you both the documents to fill out later after you've all had a chance to settle in. I won't hold you here any longer today." He dismissed us. We followed the messenger ninja to our new home. People on the streets smiled and waved. Our guide turned to look at us. 

"You know, there's actually a couple Hatake families living here." I tripped and barely caught myself against Masumi's side.

 _'There's still some alive?!'_  

"They moved here right after Konoha and the Hatake clan formed a treaty. Two families live over in that direction, near the Inuzuka compound." He pointed somewhere to our left. "The other one is over there, by the Nara compound." I followed his finger somewhere in front and slightly to our right. "That's about where your lodgings will be." Our group visibly cheered up at the mention of more living Hatake members. After a 10 minute walk we stopped in front of a moderately sized wooden house. From the outside it had the appearance of a traditional Japanese house, if slightly larger in size. A wooden fence ran around the perimeter of the house. We all excitedly made our way inside, making sure to take off our shoes at the entrance. From the entrance, there was a small hallway with a staircase to the right and a door to our left. The end of the hallway opens to the lining room. Taking the door to the left leads to the kitchen, which opens into the living room. On the entire far wall of the living room, there are a pair of sliding doors that open to a porch and large back yard. A door in the back of the kitchen leads to a bathroom and laundry area. I was surprised to see this world did laundry similar to the modern world.

Up the stairs led to a hallway with 4 doors, two on either side. All 4 of those rooms were bedrooms. I claimed the room at the end of the hallway on the right, which overlooked the backyard. It would take a while to get used to looking outside and not seeing snow. My heart ached for the sight I was so familiar with. 

We all took that night to quietly mourn for our fallen clan, snuggled in a pile of our own summons, as well as one or two of our parents summons. Masumi and Shinobu kept me company for the next few days.


	6. Beginnings of All Sorts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tatuo starts his first year in the academy.  
> We meet someone familiar.

After taking a week off to properly mourn for our decimated village we all began our lives anew. Kaito was put into a genin squad specializing in tracking. Kanna, because of her previous experience at the Hatake Clan hospital, was accepted as an apprentice under one of the lead doctors. Touma was put into the fourth year at the academy. With his prodigious skills in swordsmanship, there was no doubt he would be put on a team specializing in front-line fighters. Perhaps a search-and-destroy squad?

As for me, I was placed in the first year of the academy as I was just five years old. My swordsmanship skills weren't as amazing as Touma's and my chakra control was a work in progress. Currently, my only shining points were my faster than average speed and my slightly above average stamina. But even those had their limits when in the body of a small child. 

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After eating breakfast downstairs with my siblings there was a knock on the front door. I paused my movements and turned to look in the direction of the entrance. Kaito stood from his seat and went to answer the door. Quiet murmurs drifted into the living room as Kaito chatted with the mysterious person. A few moments later the door was heard closing and Kaito walked back to the table, two slips of paper held in his grasp. 

"Touma, Tatsuo, Hashirama-sama has arranged for your placements in the academy." He handed me one of the slips and Touma the other. Looking the paper over, it looked to be a small paragraph, though I couldn't read what it was saying. The only bits I understood said ' **Hatake Tatsuo** ' and ' **Room 103-A** '. My attention returned to Kaito as the paper was carefully placed in the bag at my feet. "Make sure to give that to your sensei when you get there! They already know you're starting today, but I suppose Hashirama-sama didn't give them full details." We both nodded and Touma grinned.

"A new school! This is so cool!" He giggled and stood from his seat. I followed a second later, scooping up my bag and languidly following after a jittery Touma who ran to the entrance. We both slipped on our shoes and pat our summons goodbye. 

"Be good Tatsuo-wan! Make some friends!" Masumi licked one of my hands as Shinobu pounced on my legs. "Ah-ah-ah, Shi-wan! You're staying here to continue your training!" The fluffy samoyed pushed the giant puppy back into the living room as Shinobu began whining. I smiled under my mask and waved at them. Kaito checked our bags to make sure we didn't forget anything before gently pushing us out the door. 

"You remember where the academy is, right? The building connected to the Hokage's Tower." The elder boy reminded us, to which we both nodded.

"Geez Kaito-nii, we're not babies!" Touma pouted. Kaito rolled his eyes.

"Of course not. Don't forget to give your sensei the paper!" The door closed before we could respond. Touma turned and sprinted out of the front yard.

"I'm gunna get there early and see who's in my class! See you later Tatsuo!" He gave a wave of his hand and practically flew down the street towards the academy. I snorted and followed at a more sedated pace.

 _'Never thought I'd have to deal with school again. Though I suppose ninja school is way different than regular school.'_ I absent-mindlessly watched a leaf float across the road.

_'I hope.'_

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I opened the door, cutting the teacher off mid-sentence. All eyes in the class turned to look at me and I tried to not squirm under all the attention. 

"Umm... And you are?" The teacher asked. I walked up to him and quietly handed over the paper in my grasp. His eyes scanned the words for a few moments before he turned to the class. "It seems we have a new classmate joining us! His name is Hatake Tatsuo. Everyone please give him a warm welcome!" Small murmurs of 'Hello' and 'Welcome' went around the classroom. "Hmm, it says you need to sit near a window." The teacher raised an eyebrow but didn't question it. "You two!" He pointed at two boys in the back sitting next to a large window. The aisle seat was free. "Move over one spot!" They both glared down at me.

"Why should we have to move? That's not fair!" The one closest to the window yelled. 

 _'Ugh, I hate children. Just move!'_ I crossed my arms over my chest and barely refrained from rolling my eyes. 

"Because I said so! Now move!" The teacher yelled at them. They grumbled but reluctantly moved over to make room.

 _'I can already tell that I won't be making any friends here. Whatever. More time to train.'_ My feet carried me to the now open spot next to the window. I opened the window and sat down, ignoring the venomous glares from the boys beside me.

"Continuing from where we left off..."

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"What makes you so special?" The kid next to me growled. We were taking a small fifteen minute break while sensei left to grab some work sheets from the teachers lounge."Oi! Don't ignore me!" A hand grabbed my shoulder.

 ** _TSS_**.... I glared at him and roughly shoved his arm away. The classroom was silent as all eyes turned to stare at the steam drifting around my head and out the window. 

"O-oh...." The other kid at my desk mumbled. My head harshly turned away from my table mates and I fought against the strong urge to simply hop out the window and run away. Small murmurs started up again. The classroom door slid open and the teacher walked in, balancing a stack of paper in his arms.

"Hmm?" His eyes swept over the class, taking in our mostly silent forms. "Awfully quiet for a group of first years. Ah! I know! You're all just so excited to start the next lesson, right?" He grinned as groans rung throughout the classroom.

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My earlier display seemed to ward off many of my classmates, leaving me isolated for the rest of the day. I didn't mind as it gave me time to think.

Sitting alone under a tree, I glanced down at the bento in my lap. Where was I going to go from here?

 _'I suppose I'll have to take my training more seriously from here.'_ The sight of a burning village briefly flashed through my mind. A harsh stream of steam escaped my mask as I sharply exhaled. The chopsticks in my grasp snapped, showering my untouched lunch with wood chips. My eyes stared blankly down at the ruined bento. My vision became blurry and I hurriedly wiped at the tears threatening to fall.

 _'I never got to tell them how much I love them...'_ I choked back a sob, making my chest ache as I drowned in sorrow. I knew my parents weren't coming back, and that hurt me more than anything. Lunch thrown to the side, my body curled into itself. _'Kaa-chan... we never made up...'_ I thought of the last time I saw her. The beginning of the attack, my siblings and I huddled together in a corner of the living room. Kaa-chan was trying so hard to be brave. Tou-san as well. I remember training in the forest, running laps around the clearing with Shinobu as Tou-san grinned cheekily from one of the trees. Learning to control my chakra control in the melting snow, not having to worry about my steam burning anyone as he guided my focus. Tou-san was more of a parent than Kaa-chan, more than the parents of my last life. The thought that I would never see him again...

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On day two I wasn't surprised when everyone kept their distance. When lunch came around I immediately went back to the tree from yesterday. 

_'Peace and quiet... No staring... This is nice.'_

"Hello."

 _'Or not. Who the hell...' **TSS**_... I blinked. _'What.'_ A couple feet away stood a kid with white hair and coal colored eyes. If not for a few small differences and the fact that it was too early for him to be born yet, I would have thought that the boy in front of me was child-Kakashi. _'Must be one of the kids from one of the two other Hatake families here.'_

"You um... Looked lonely over here. Can I sit here with you?" He smiled. I stared for a few more seconds then slowly nodded. His smile brightened and he plopped down to my left. "You're Hatake Tatsuo, right?" His head tilted slightly to to the side in question. I nodded. "Great! I'm Hatake Sakumo. It's nice to see more Hatake's around!" His head dipped in greeting.

 _'Woah, wait a second. This is Sakumo? I've only seen him as a depressed adult. What a difference...'_ My eyes raked over his form again with this revelation. _'Cute. Well, not that he wasn't as an adult either.' **TSS**_... He stared at the steam and slowly reached a hand out. I grabbed his hand before he could injure himself. Even though he was wearing long sleeves and gloves, the steam could still seep through his clothes and give some nasty third-degree burns. I shook my head and slowly pushed his arm back to his side. My eyes were drawn down to the dragon on my arm. It twisted down my bicep and curled up around my wrist. I absentmindedly stroked its head. We sat in silence before I remembered Sakumo was here too. I looked up to see him staring transfixed on my soulmark. Embarrassed, I cleared my throat and looked away, though my hand kept stroking the beast on my arm. _**TSS**_...

"A-ah, sorry..." He looked away and rubbed his arm. I shrugged. We sat in silence for a while longer, both lost in our own thoughts. At the end of lunch I tapped his knee and stood up. "Eh?" I jerked my head towards the school building. "Oh." I held out my right hand and he stared, eyes slowly sliding to the dragon swirling around my arm. 

 _'Man, I know people don't usually show off their soulmark, but you don't need to stare so hard.'_ I sighed. **_TSS_**...

The noise knocked him from his thoughts and he grinned sheepishly. His hand gripped mine and I pulled him to his feet.

"Thank you."His head tilted in thanks. I nodded and we made our way back to class.

 _'Does this mean we're friends now?'_ I sat down in my spot by the window. _'My first friend in this life is Sakumo, Kakashi's dad. The guy who becomes the White Fang, a village leader. The guy who then fails an important mission in order to save his teammates lives. The guy who, after being labeled a traitor for that very mission, later drowns in his own sorrow and commits suicide and who's own son finds his cold dead corpse kneeling in a puddle of his own blood.'_ I dimly noted that Sakumo sat on the other side of the classroom near the front. _'Great.'_

The classroom slowly filled with unenthusiastic looking children. The teacher walked in a few minutes later with yet another giant stack of papers piled precariously in his arms. I was both surprised and impressed that he managed to not drop a single paper. 

"Alright everyone! Pay attention!" About 3 kids were listening to the teacher (I somehow still don't know his name). "Listen!" Killing intent washed over us, quickly silencing everyone. Most children trembled fearfully in their seats. I sat on my hands to hide their trembling. "Finally. I've decided that today you will be taking a quiz. Take out your pencils!" We obediently took out our writing utensils. "Hatake-kun, you-" He paused when he remembered there were two Hatake's in the class. "Ah, I mean Tatsuo-kun. You might not know the material, but I would still like you to try." My head jerked in a nod. "Good. I expect everyone to answer to the best of their ability." He ran a sharp eye over the class.

"Hai, Uzuki-sensei!" The class responded. I noted the name Uzuki as he passed out the packets. Once everybody had a packet placed in front of them, Uzuki-sensei ordered us to begin. I slowly made my way through the packet. My understanding of kanji was still subpar at best thus it took me a few extra moments to translate what each question said. Once I finally translated a question, I had no problem answering said question. What really held me up was trying to write down my answers in the correct kanji. On the answers I couldn't find the correct words for, I begrudgingly drew a picture of my answer to the best of my ability. Five minutes before school let out I finally finished my packet. Looking around, I noticed only me, Uzuki-sensei, and four other kids were left in the classroom. With a blush coating my cheeks, I handed the packet to Uzuki-sensei and headed home.

 


End file.
